2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

Imagine a car that could out-slalom a C5 Corvette, accelerate faster than a Ford Taurus SHO, be nearly invisible to police, achieve 33 mpg, and cost about $13,000. Sound like a future-car pipe dream that should be catalogued next to the secret engine that runs on water? Meet the Ford Escort ZX2.

Designed to turn the heads of style-conscious, budget-restricted drivers, the curvaceous new Escort faces off amid the crowded two-door subcompact segment against the likes of the Dodge/Plymouth Neon Sport, Honda Civic EX, and Nissan 200SX SE-R in the battle for Gen-X dollars. “Where it carves its own unique niche is in combination of styling, fun to drive, and price. We tried to combine all three characteristics in one package,” Richard Parry-Jones, Ford vice president of the Small and Medium Car Vehicle Center, told MT. For an extended evaluation putting these assertions to the test, we wrangled a pair of prototypes: a base ZX2 with a five-speed manual and a fully loaded ZX2 Sport with a four-speed automatic.

Bearing a family resemblance to both the four-door Escort and Taurus variants, the new coupe was penned to have its own distinct personality. Its sheetmetal is enhanced with subtle side sculpting, creating a svelte, muscular beltline accentuated by frameless door glass, which nets it a 0.33 drag coefficient. The Sport model (pictured) further benefits from foglamps, 15×5.5-inch aluminum wheels, a decklid spoiler, chrome exhaust tip, and special badging. Although the 98.4-inch wheelbase is shared with its sedan brethren, this sleek 2+2 is slightly larger, touting a half-inch advantage in length and width.

Inside, the coupe shares several components with the sedan and wagon, including its steering wheel and center console, but the dash and door panels are unique. The most distinctive interior element is the wedge-shape instrument panel that houses a speedometer, tachometer, water temperature gauge, and fuel gauge. The Integrated Control Panel (ICP in Fordspeak) carries over, blending audio and climate switchgear into a single oval component. At low speeds, the uplevel stereo in our tester produced crisp, satisfying music reproduction. The preproduction car, however, did allow a fair amount of engine and tire noise to seep inside at highway velocities, leaving us thankful for the available 20 watts per channel to compensate.

Both models receive supportive front bucket seats tastefully wrapped in complementing fabrics, thankfully avoiding the eye-popping “splattered paint” motif used by some competitors. Choosing the optional power moonroof, however, sacrifices valuable headroom. Having driven examples with and without the electric portal, we’d save our money by foregoing this option and enjoying a comfortably sized cabin. But keep in mind that headroom is a topic to avoid when enticing a pair of passengers into the rear seat. While not ideal for retracing Lewis and Clark’s expedition, most teenagers won’t balk at a free ride to McDonald’s, especially with three cupholders and a large-fry-size console cubby in their midst. Compared to the sedan, the coupe lags 2.3 inches behind in rear headroom. The front seats tip forward to allow rear-passenger escape, while conveniently retaining their incline setting. Low liftover height and gas struts make it easy to use the 11.8 cubic-foot trunk, while the split-folding rear bench allows for transporting large items. Growing families will appreciate the integrated rear child safety seat available in the base coupe.

The fun-factor is set on high with motivation coming from a 2.0-liter/130-horsepower DOHC inline-four shared with the ’98 Contour. The Zetec engine has 20 more horses than the powerplant found in the Escort sedan and wagon, and three more than the lamented previous-generation GT hatchback. Reinforcing the cast iron block with a ladder-frame design increases bottom-end rigidity for a quieter, smoother-running engine than found in earlier Contours. The revitalized and lightened 16-valve engine tips the scales at a measly 251 pounds, and propelled a five-speed-equipped ZX2 from zero to 60 mph in an impressive 7.4 seconds. The ZX2 Sport fitted with the F4E-III four-speed automatic transmission with grade-logic trailed significantly behind, at 9.6 seconds for 0-60 mph. Even in base trim, the spunky five-speed coupe dusts most competitors, including Ford’s own V-6 Probe GT, with its surprisingly swift acceleration.

In either base or Sport flavor, the ZX2 features the same MacPherson strut/multilink suspension tuned for a balance of road holding and ride compliance. Combined with a taut, responsive steering box, the car is nimble and fun to drive. While base cars ride on 185/65SR14 Goodyear Eagle GA tires, the Sport models use more-aggressive Goodyear Eagle RS-A 185/60TR15 rubber, which provide only negligible difference in handling numbers.

Looking outside its peer group, the five-speed ZX2 edges past the Corvette’s slalom time and gains a nose in the quarter mile against the Taurus SHO. In fact, the ZX2 we tested outperformed the SHO in every category except for braking, at about half the price. This puts the Escort name in a fresh perspective.

Final pricing will not be announced until late summer, but early indications put the ZX2 slightly above the sticker price of the earlier GT. Ford’s commitment to competitive pricing-so that the Escort nameplate can earn the title of best-selling subcompact for a 16th consecutive year-has us confidently estimating a base price of $12,900. Retaining the solid construction and quality feel of the sedan, this all-new coupe brings an exponential fun-factor to the Escort equation.

Horsepower

Torque

1998 Ford Escort News and Reviews

Since its introduction during the Reagan years, the Escort moniker has been synonymous with affordable, no-nonsense transport available in sedan, wagon, and hatchback varieties. As the next millennium nears, the U.S. economy booms and consumer priorities shift: a gallon of gasoline costs the same as a 16-ounce bottled water, bigger is better, and Internet shares have driven the stock exchange…

For the first time, the two-door Escort has cast aside its rear hatch in favor of a conventional trunk, moving a rung up the automotive prestige ladder in the process. While a pre-production ZX2 model exhibited blitzkrieg 7.4-second 0-60-mph performance in our previous test (May '97), this nearly-as-impressive production example quickens the pulse more than any new $13,000 car should.Much…

Imagine a car that could out-slalom a C5 Corvette, accelerate faster than a Ford Taurus SHO, be nearly invisible to police, achieve 33 mpg, and cost about $13,000. Sound like a future-car pipe dream that should be catalogued next to the secret engine that runs on water? Meet the Ford Escort ZX2.Designed to turn the heads of style-conscious, budget-restricted drivers,…

Enthusiasts on a budget may be wondering what ever happened to the two-door, performance-tuned Ford Escort GT. When the Escort was restyled and reengineered for 1997, the four-door and the wagon were nicely tweaked and resculpted, but the two-door hatchback model vanished along with its free-revving 127-horsepower, twin-cam four-cylinder engine. That's about to change.Although no formal explanation has been offered…

One of the newest additions to the revitalized Plymouth line, the Breeze takes a different approach to the $15K sedan. Rather than an optioned-up small car, the Breeze is an optioned-down big car. The EPA classifies it as midsize, based on its 111.6-cubic-foot total interior volume; the other cars in our group are rated as compacts. The Breeze shares virtually…